Knitting machine



No. 6l|,862. Patented Oct. 4, I898.

I. W. LAMB.

KNITTING MACHINE.

(Application filed June 11, 1897.) (No Model.)

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KNITTING MACHINE.

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KNITTING MACHINE.

(Application filed June 11, 1897.) No Model.) 8 Sheets-Shaet 4.

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Patented Oct. 4, I898.

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W/ TN E SSE S 1 @g-giu ATTORNEYS NrrEo' STATES" ISAAC W. LAMB, OF PERRY,MICHIGAN.

KNITTING-MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 61 1,862, dated October4, 1898. Application filed Tune 11, 1897. Serial No. 640,347. (Nomodel.)-

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ISAAC WIXOM LAMB, of Perry, in the county ofShiawassee and State of Michigan, have invented a new and ImprovedKnitting-Machine, of which the following is a full, clear, and-exactdescription.

The invention relates to knitting-machines of the Lamb type, having twostraight rows of needles arranged on opposite sides of the machine andbetween which rows of needles the work passes.

The object of the invention is to provide a new and improvedknitting-machine designed for knitting fabrics of various kinds,principally, however, such fabrics as shown and described in the LettersPatent of the United States, No. 578,153, granted to me on March 2,1897, which fabric comprises two ribbed fabrics of which theselvage-yarn of one fabric is extended betweenv the front and back loopsof the selvage of the other fabric to form the two fabrics in one piece.

The invention consists of certain parts and details and combinations ofthe same, as will be fully described hereinafter, and then pointed outin the claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part ofthis specification, in which similar characters of reference indicatecorresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure l is a side elevation of the improvement. Fig. 2 is a plan Viewof the same. Fig. 3 is an end elevation of the same. Fig. 4 is across-section of the same on the line 4 4 of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is asectional plan View of part of the mechanism for actuating thesewing-needle, on the line 4 4 of Fig. 4. Fig. 5 is a side elevation ofpart of the improvement as arranged for cardigan work and with theneedle-plate-shifting device thrown out of action. Fig. 6 is a similarview of a modified form of the improvement as arranged for plain work.Fig. 7 is a sectional side elevation of the improvement on the line] 7of Fig. 3. Fig. Sis a perspective view of part of the mechanism foractuating the sewingneedle. Fig. 9 is a like view of the same with parts'in a different position. Fig. 10 is an enlarged innerface View of thecams for the needles on the front needle-plate. Fig. 11 is a like viewof the set of cams for the needles on the rear needle-plate. Fig. 12 isa trans verse section of the cams on the line 12 12 of Fig. 10. Fig. 13is a sectional plan view of the cam on the line 13 13 of Fig. 11. Fig.14 is an enlarged side elevation of part of the mechanism for shiftingthe needle-plate, the section being taken on the line 14 14 of Fig. 16.Fig. 15 is a transverse section of the same on 'theline 15 15 of Fig.14. Fig. 16 is a plan view of the same. Fig. 17 is a face view of 'theratchet-wheel for the needle-plateshifting device. Fig. 18 is a likeview of a modified form of a pattern-wheel for the needle-plate-shiftingdevice. Fig. 19 is an enlarged side elevation of the needles on the rearneedleplate with the threads looped thereon. Fig. 20 is a like view ofthe same with the sewing-needle in a different position, and Fig. 21 isan enlarged edge view of the fabric with the front loops and the rearloops spread transversely and in opposite directions.

The improved knitting-machine is mounted on a main, frame A, supportinga gibframe B, on which reciprocates a carriage 0, connected by a pitmanD with a crank-disk D, secured on a transverse shaft E, connected withsuitable machinery for imparting a rotary motion to the said shaft E, tocause the crank-disk D and pitm-an D to impart a reciprocating motion tothe carriage O on the gib-frame 13.

The detail construction of the parts so far referred to is the same asthe one shown and described in the application for Letters Patent of theUnited States for a knitting-machine, No. 630,200, filed by at on April1, 1897, so that it is not deemed necessary to describe the parts indetail.

Of the two needle-plates F F the front needie-plate F isfitted to slidelongitudinally in suitable bearings on the frame A at the front of themachine, and the said needle-plate is adapted to be held eitherstationary or to receive an intermittent sliding motion according to thework in hand by means of a needle-plate-shifting device actuated fromthe main driving-shaft and as hereinaftermore fully described. The otheror rear needleplate F is rigidly secured to the frame A.

The needle-plates F and F are provided with suitable guideways for thesets of long needles G G and the sets of short needles G G of which thelong needles are preferably arranged at the left of the needle-platesand the short needles are arranged at the right thereof, the said longneedles receiving their yarn from an oscillating yarn-carrier H and theshort needles receiving their yarn from a second oscillating carrier1-1, the said carriers operating between guide-arms I 1, respectively,and are carried by the carriage G.

The long needles G G are actuated by cam devices J J, respectively, andthe short needles G2 G are actuated by cam devices J 2 J respectively,all carried by the reciprocating carriage O. p

The short needle G adjacent to the long needles G on the needle-plate F,(see Figs. 19 and 20,) is the sewing-needle,and receives, in addition tothe movement by its cam de vice J a preliminary movement by a suitablemechanism actuated from the main driving-shaft,as hereinafter more fullydescribed, so that the sewing-needle takes the yarn from the carrier Hto unite the two fabries formed by the two sets of long and shortneedles whenever it is desired to do so and as shown in Figs. 19, 20,and 21.

If preferred, the long needle next to the short needle may be used forthe sewing-needle, taking the yarn from the yarn-guide belonging to theshort needles to make the seam.

In case the device for moving the sewingneedle G into a preliminaryposition is thrown out of action by the operator then the sets of longneedles produce a fabric and the sets of short needles produce a fabricalongside the first-named fabric, and when it is desired to join theseadjacent fabrics at their selvages the said mechanism for moving thesewingneedle into a preliminary position is thrown into action, so thatwhen the carriage C returns to the right-hand end of its stroke andbegins to move to the left and the needles of both sets have cast theirloops and have their new loops in their hooks then the sewingneedle G ismoved up into a preliminary position by its actuating device a distanceof about one-half inch (see Fig. 19) and to the left of the yarn-carrierH sufficient to catch the new thread, but not sufficient to permit itsold loop to pass under its latch. The needle, therefore, at this timehas two loops in its hook, and the two loops are cast off together whenthe needle completes its stroke.

Now when the carriage 0 moves to the left the yarn a from the carrier His laid over the sewing-needle G to form the loop a in addition to theloop I) from the yarn b of the carrier H and held on the sewing-needleby the previous movement of the carriage to the right. Upon a furthermovement of the carriage to the left the long needles Gmove upward totake the yarn a and then move down again to complete theirnew loops. Asthe carriage Gcontinues to move to the left the cam device J whichoperates the short needles G engages the sewing-needle G and draws thesame down to the position of the other short needle G and is then movedup to take the yarn b and knit its regular stitch j ust the same as itwould if it did not have the loop a. As the sewing-needle G takes itsown yarn, both of the loops at b, which have now passed below the latch,are cast together off the said needle G so that there is only one stitchformed by the sewing-needle, as will be readily understood by referenceto Figs. 19, 20,

and 21. Thus oneloop a of the fabric formed by the long needles G G isknitted into the outside loop I) of the other fabric formed by the shortneedles G2 G whereby the two fabrics are joined.

The mechanism for moving the sewing-needle G? into a preliminaryuppermost position is shown more fully in Figs. 2, 3, 4c, and 4c, and isprovided with a cam K, secured on the shaft E, and .adapted to engage anarm K upon every revolution of the said shaft,so as to press the saidarm downward. The arm K projects from the forward end of alongitudinally-extending rock-shaft K provided at its other end with acrank-arm K carrying a pawl K adapted to engage a tooth or shoulder Kformed on a slide K fitted to slide on a suitable guideway K and inalinement with the sewing-needle G engaging the lower end thereof, so asto push the sewing-needle upward in its guideway in the needle-plate F.The slide K is formed with an elongated slot K engaged by one of theusual bars G for holding the needles in their guideways, the bar alsoserving to. hold the slide in proper position in the guideway for theneedle G When the shaft E rotates and the cam K presses the arm K, thenthe shaft K is turned to cause the crank-arm K to rock forward.

This movement of the crank-arm K causes the pawl K to engage theshoulder K and push the slide K and the sewing-needle Gr upward. Aspring K pulls on the crank arm K to return the latter and the pawl K toa normal or lowermost position immediately after the cam K passes overthe arm K and shortly after the sewing-needle has been pushed into anuppermost preliminary position, as above described and as indicated indotted lines in Fig. 4. The sewing-needle G is thus freed from the pawlK and can be acted on and moved downward by its cam device J ,'aspreviously explained, without interference from the pawl.

It is understood that other suitable mechanism may be employed foraccomplishing the same result, and hence I do not limit myself to theparticular construction shown and described for moving the sewing-needleG The pawl K can be readily thrown rearward out of action whenever it isdesired to have the sewing-needle G operate as an ordinary needlethatis, when it is desired to leave the two fabrics disjoined for anydistance. For instance, when a mitten-blank has been formed up to thepoint where it is desired to narrow off the tip then the pawl work attwo points.

K is thrown back out of action and the work is narrowed off as twoseparate pieces. The narrowing at the left-hand of. the work is donewhen the carriage Ois at the right-hand side of the gib-frame, and thenarrowing at the right-hand side of the work is done when the carriageis at the left of said frame. this method it is not necessary to makeany changes in the machine or in the weights attached to the work whenit is desired to narrow ofi the tip, except to merely turn backthe pawlK, as above explained. Thus by the use of this machine it is as simpleto nar: row ofi the work at four points as it is in other machinescapable of narrowing off the About one-third of the time required toproduce a mitten is thus saved by the use of the present machine.

As the two sets of cam devices which operate the two series of needlesare as far apart as the width of one series of needles, it is evidentthat the stroke of the carriage O can be lessened by an amount equal tothe width of one series of needles. Thus if there are teninchneedle-plates employed the stroke of the carriage can be shortened fiveinches, as compared with thestroke required to produce the same work onan ordinary machine, and, in addition, the machine can be safely run ata higher rate of speed than an ordinary machine with the same length ofneedleplate.

As shown and described, the two sections or divisions of needles and twosets of cam devices for operating the said needles are employed; but itisevident that any desired number of such sections and corresponding camdevices may be used. Thus if it is desired to make a knit cap four,five, or more sections can be employed. The main part of the cap can inthis case be made all in one piece and the crown narrowed off in as manysections as there are sections of needles employed.

If it is desired to produce ribbed shirts, then all that is necessary isto construct the machine with needle-plates of the required length. Theback of the shirt is then knit in one piece up to the back of the neck,and then a sufficient number. of stitches are thrown off and the needlesput out of work, so that the opening for the neck is formed, it beingunderstood that the pawl K is thrown back during this part of theoperation. Needles may be added to make the desired form around the neckportion until all those needles are again at work which were thrown outto form the neck-opening. The work is now continued as two separatefabrics as far as it is desired to have the opening in the front of theshirt. .Then the pawl K is again thrown into action to operate thesewing-needle G so as to continue the work as one fabric.

In order to produce fancy work on the machine, it is necessary tointermittently reciprocate the front needle-plate F, and for thispurpose I provide the following device:

The right-hand end of the needle-plate F is connected by a rod L with ayoke L, fitted to slide longitudinally and formed withtransversely-extending pins or screws L engaging elongated slots Lformed in an auxiliary frame or plate L secured to the main frame A orforming an integral part therewith.

Within the yoke L is arranged a patternwheel N, secured to aratchet-wheel P, both mounted to rotate loosely on a stud 0, carried bythe frame L The pattern-wheel N is provided on its periphery with anydesired but odd number of cam projections N, adapted to alternatelyengage dogs N N, arranged on opposite sides of the pattern-wheel, andpreferably fnlcrnmed at N on the frame or plate L The dogs N? N areadapted to be thrown by the cam projections alternately againstset-screws N N", respectively, adjustably held in the yoke L, themovement of the said pattern-wheel on the dogs causing an intermittentreciprocating motion of the yoke, and consequently of the needle-plateF, as the yoke is rigidly connected with the said needle-plate by therod L.

The ratchet-wheel P is adapted to be engaged on the top by apushing-pawl P and at its bottom by a pulling-pawl P both fulcrumed on alever P fulcrumed at P on a bracket attached to the main frame. Thelever P is pivotally connected with the occentric-rod of an eccentric Pheld on the main shaft'E, so that when the latter is rotated the saideccentric will impart a swinging motion to the lever P to cause thepawls P P when in mesh with the ratchet-Wheel P to turn the latter twicefor every revolution of the shaft Ethat is, once for each stroke of thecarriage O.

The pawl P is provided with a pivoted hook P, adapted to engage a pin Pon the lever P, so as to hold the said pawl P in an uppermostposition-that is, out of engagement with the ratchet-wheel P, asindicated in Figs. 1 and 5. On the free end of the pawl P is formed atransversely-extending lug or teat P adapted to engage the peripheralsurface of a ratchet-disk P interposed between the pattern wheel N andthe ratchet-wheel P and having one-half the number of teeth that theratchet-wheel P has, so as to cause the pawl P to always engage twoteeth of the ratchetwheel P instead of one or to remain entirely out ofaction, as more fully described hereinafter. The other pawl P is adaptedto be thrown in and out of mesh by the operator, and for this purposethe free end of the said pawl is pivotally connected by a link Q with anarm Q, formed on one end of a shaft Q mounted to rock in suitablebearings Q attached to the main frame A, the other end of the said shaftbeing provided with a forwardly-extend ing arm Q formed at its outer endwith aknob or handle Q adapted to be taken hold of. by the operator. Thearm Q engages a slot- Q in a fixed plate Q so as to lock the arm Q ineither an uppermost or lowermost position that is, when in an uppermostposition the pawl P is in mesh with the ratchet-wheel P, and when thearm Q is in a lowermost position in the said plate then the pawl P isthrown out of mesh with the said ratchetwheel. The shaft Q is made solight that it forms a torsion-spring and so holds the pawl P with ayielding pressure against the ratchet.

Now it is evident that by the arrangement described the lower pawl P canbe readily thrown out of work by the operator moving the knob Qaccordingly, and when this is done the upper pawl P is renderedinoperative, as the ratchet-disk P will hold the upper pawl P out ofengagement with the teeth of the ratchet-wheel P, it being understoodthat the lug P then simply rides on the correspondingly large tooth ofthe ratchet-disk P without being brought into engagement with a tooth ofthe ratchet-wheel P.

By reference to the detail view, Fig. 14, it will be seen that the backof each tooth of the ratchet-disk P is somewhat at the rear of the backof the corresponding tooth of the ratchetwheel P, so that when the upperpawl P engages the uncovered back of a tooth of the ratchet-wheel P thelug P will not engage the disk P, so that no driving strain will comeupon the thin disk P.

If it is desired to produce racked Work on the machine, the knob Q ismoved into the uppermost position, (shown in Fig. 1,) so that the pawlsturn the ratchet -wheel P alternately to impart an intermittent motionto the yoke L and the plate F and shift the needles G G2 thereonlongitudinally relativelyto the needles G G on the" other or fixedneedleplate F.

If plain work is desired, the knob Q is moved into a lowermostposition-that is, the pawls are both rendered inactive and theneedle-plate F remains stationary. If another pattern or rackwork iswanted, the upper pawl P is thrown out of engagement with theratchet-wheel P and locked in position by the hook P engaging the pin Pwhile the lower pawl P is left in mesh with the said ratchet wheel. Theneedle-plate F is now shifted but once during every revolution of theshaft E-that is, one-half as often as when the two pawls P P are both inmesh with the ratchet-wheel. The forms of the pattern wheel and ratchetwheel can be greatly varied, as indicated in Figs. 17 and 18. Thepattern-wheel must, however, have an odd number of cam projections N, sothat only one at a time is in engagement with a corresponding dog N or NIn order to prevent the ratchet-wheel P and the pattern-wheel N frombeing accidentally turned,l provide a transversely-extendin g pin 0,fitted to slide in the frame L and pressed on by a spring 0 secured tothe said frame L The forward pointed end of the pin Ois adapted toengage one of a series of indentations or recesses P to temporarily lockthe ratchet-wheel P in place, but to permit the same to be turned, thepin 0 yielding rearwardly when this operation takes place. The number ofindentations P corresponds to the number of teeth in the ratchet-wheel,as indicated in Fig. 17.

In order to produce a great variety of work, I provide some or all ofthe cam devices for shifting the needles with a movable section forminga part of the V-shaped middle cam and which section can be opened orclosed at the option of the operator, according to the work desired tobe formed.

It is understood that when the movable section R of the cardigan cam Ris open, as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 10, the latter acts as a solidcam to cause a full throw of the needles for ordinary work; but when thesection is in a closed position, as shown by full lines, then the camacts on the needles in such a way that the needles do notcast anystitches and move only up far enough to receive the yarn, but notfar'enough to permit their latches to pass through the loops. Thecardigan-cam, with its movable section, is applicable not only in thepresent machine, but also can be used in an ordinary Lamb machine, andif used on one of the cams either plain ribbed work is produced orhalf-cardigan work. If both the front and back V- shaped cams areconstructed in thismanner, then either half-cardigan or full-cardiganwork can be produced, or plain work if the section if open. However, bycombining the cardigan-cams with the shifting needle-plate and thedifierent pattern-wheels ane ndless variety of work can be produced, andthe changes can be made while the machine is running, thus greatlyfacilitating the production of certain work.

As illustrated in the drawings, (see Figs.- 10, 11, 12, and 13,) thecam-shifting devices J J 2 for the long and short needles G Grespectively, on the front movable plate F are each provided with acam-plate R, secured to the under side of the front part of the car-When the sections R are in a lowermost position, as shown in dottedlines, each of the cams R acts as a solid cam and, in conjunction withthe said cams, causes the needles to travel their full stroke. Themovable sections R of the two cam devices J J 2 are secured on bars R B,respectively, fitted to slide in suitable hearings on the cam-plates R,the said bars being connected with each other at their lower ends by aswitch-1inkR carrying a switch R adapted to be engaged at the right-handend of the machine by a shifter S, secured to the main frame A, and

at the left-hand end of the machine the said switch R is adapted to beengaged by a shifter S, held on a lever S fulcrulned at S on the leftside of the main frame A. The lever S is provided with a handle 8,adapted to be taken hold of by the operator to move the shifter S in orout of the path of the switch R When the lever S is swung downward, asshown in Fig. 1, then the shifter S is moved out of the path of theswitch R and the latter is engaged, on the first movement of thecarriage (J to the right, by the fixed shifter S and moved into alowermost position, whereby the bars R Rand the sections R aresimultaneously drawn downward to open theupper ends of the fixed sidecams R and R for the needles to make their full stroke for common ribbedwork. The sections R remain in this position during the furtherforwardand backward traveling of the carriage C.

When it is desired to make cardigan-work, the lever S is thrown upward,so that the shifter S is moved into the path of the switch R and on thenext movement of the carriage C to the left the said switch R engagesthe said shifter and is then moved upward, thereby shifting the sectionsR into an uppermost position, as shown in Fig. 10, to close the upperends'of the side cams R R so that the needles move but a part of thefull stroke for producing cardigan-work,as above explained.

In order to prevent the cardigan-cam sections R from accidentally movingout of the respective positions they are in at the time, I provide eachbar R R with a transverse pin engaged by the double ends of a lever T,fulcrumed at T to the carriage C and pressed on by a spring T as isplainly shown in Figs. 10 and 12.

The cam devices J and J 3 for the needles on the rear needle-plate F areof ordinary construction, as plainly indicated in Figs. 11 and 13thatis, each device is provided with a cam-plate U, having cams U U and themiddle or V-shaped cam U The cam devices J J J 2 J 3 are all provided attheir cams with a device for adjusting the cams to increase or decreasethe sliding motion of the needles according to the length'of the loopdesired 0n the fabric. Each such device V is of the ordinaryconstruction, as

more fully described in the application for Letters Patent of the UnitedStates previ ously referred to, so that further description of the sameis not deemed necessary.

Upon shifting the needle-plate F a distance between two needles it isevident that diiferent needles in the two needle-plates F F Work inconjunction with each other at each stroke to vary the work, as aboveexplained, and additional variations can be had by the use of thecardigan-cam section to produce cardiganwork. The throw of theneedle-plate is limited between adjustable stop-pins F screwing in theends of the frame A. (See Fig. 7.)

The arrangement shown in Fig. 6 is for opcrating a cardigan-cam having amovable section on the ordinary Lamb machine, the bar W, carrying thesection, being provided with a switch W, adapted to be engaged hy'afixed shifter W at the right hand of the frame and a pivoted shifter Won the other end of the machine. For ordinary ribbed work the shifter isthrown out of the path of the switch W; but for cardigan-work it ismoved into the position shown in the said figure to engage and actuatethe switch and cardigansection to move the same into a closed position,as previously explained.

It is understoodthat the eccentric is so arranged relatively to thecrank-disk D that the pawls K K actuate the ratchet-wheel and cam-wheelat the time the carriage is at or near the end of the stroke.

In order to prevent the carriage from springing up off the needles incase knots run in the work or the needles get bent, I provide thecarriage O with a friction-roller O, swung on the under side of alongitudinal bar A, forming part of the main frame A.

Having thus fully described my invention, I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent 1. A knitting-machine, comprising two sets ofneedles, means for operating them, a sewing-needle arranged between thetwo sets of needles to join the fabrics produced by them, mechanism forimparting to said sewing-needie, a partial stroke so as to cause it toreceive a second yarn before castingoff its old loop, and means forcausing said sewing-needle to complete its stroke with one of the saidsets of needles.

2. A knitting-machine, comprising two sets of needles, means foroperating them, a sewing-needle arranged between the two sets of needlesto join the fabrics produced by them, mechanism forimparting to saidsewing-nee dle first a partial stroke so as to cause it to receive asecond yarn before casting off its old loop, and means for causing thesaid sewing-needle to complete its stroke with two yarns and to cast offboth loops at the end of the stroke.

3. A knitting-machine,provided with needle-plates, sets of needles onthe said plates, yarn-carriers for carrying the yarn to thecorresponding sets of needles, a sewing-needle between the two sets ofneedles on one of the needle-plates, for joining the fabrics formed bythe said sets of needles, means for imparting movement tothe said setsof needles and the sewing-needle, and mechanism for shifting thesewing-needle into a preliminary position for receiving. the second yarnfrom one of the carriers, without causing said sewing-needle to cast itsold loop substantially as shown and described.

4:. Aknitting-machine,provided with a needle-plate, two sets of needlesin the said plate, means for actuating the saidneedles, yarncarriers forthe said needles, a sewing-needle adapted to be actuated by the meansforactuating one set of needles, and mechanism for moving thesewing-needle into a preliminary position, to receive the second yarnfrom the other carrier without causing said sewing-needle to cast itsold loop, substantially as shown and described.

5. A knitting-machine, provided with two needle-plates, a set of longneedles and a set of short needles on each of the said plates, one ofthe needles in one of the said sets being a sewing-needle, ayarn-carrier for each set of needles, means for actuating the saidneedles regularly, to form two adjacent fabrics, and means for movingthe sewing-needle into a preliminary position, to receive the threadfrom the carrier for the other set of needles, without causing saidsewing-needle to cast its old loop substantially as shown and described.

6. A knitting-machine,provided with a needle-plate, mechanism forimparting a sliding motion thereto, the said mechanism comprisinga yokefitted to slide and connected with the said plate, a pattern-wheel forimparting motion to the said yoke, a ratchet, a pawl mechanism for theratchet-wheel for imparting an intermittent rotary motion to the saidratchet-wheel and pattern-Wheel, and dogs interposed between the saidpattern-wheel and the said yoke, substantially as shown and described.

7. A knitting-machine,provided with ancedle-plate, mechanism forimparting'a sliding motion thereto, the said mechanism comprising a yokefitted to slide and connected with the said plate, a pattern-wheel forimparting motion to the said yoke, a ratchet, a pawl mechanism for theratchet-wheel for imparting an intermittent rotary motion to the saidratchet-wheel and pattern-wheel, the said pawl mechanism being providedwith a push- ,pawl and a pull-pawl adapted to be thrown mechanism forthe ratchet-wheel for imparting an intermittent rotary motion to thesaid ratchet-wheel and pattern-wheel, the said pawl mechanism beingprovided with a pushpawl and a pull-pawl adapted to be thrownindependently in and out of mesh with the said ratchet-wheel one of saidpawls having a lug projecting therefrom, a lever on which the said pawlsare fulcrumed, an eccentric for imparting a rocking motion to the saidlever, and a ratchet-disk connected with the said ratchet-wheel, buthaving one-half the number of teeth as that of the said ratchetwheel,the teeth of the disk being adapted to be engaged by thelu g on one ofthe said pawls, substantially as shown and described 9. Aknitting-machine,provided with a needle-plate, a shifting devicetherefor, and having a ratchet-wheel and a ratchet-disk rigidlyconnected with each other, the ratchet-disk having one-half the numberof teeth that the ratchet-wheel has, and a push-pawl adapted to engagethe said ratchet-Wheel, and having a lug adapted to ride on the teeth ofthe said disk, substantially as shown and described.

10. A knitting machine, provided with mechanism for producing twofabrics, a sew-' ing-needle for joining said fabrics',and a mechanismfor moving the sewing-needle into a preliminary position for receivingthe second yarn, the said mechanism comprising a rockshaft, an arm onthe said rock-shaft, a pawl carried by the arm, and a slide for engagingthe sewing-needle, to move the latter into the said preliminaryposition, substantially as shown and described.

11. A knittingmachine, provided with mechanism for producing twofabrics, a sewing-needle for joining said fabrics,and a mechanism formoving the sewing-needle into a preliminary position for receiving thesecond yarn, the said mechanism comprising a rockshaft, an arm on thesaid rock-shaft, a pawl carried by the arm, a slide for engaging thesewing-needle, to move the latter into the said preliminary position,and means for returning the pawl immediately after the needle is in thedesired position, to allow shifting of the needle by its cam device,substantially as shown and described.

12. A knitting-machine comprising a plurality of oppositely-arrangedneedle-plates, sets of long and short needles fitted to slide in thesaid plates, the short needle between the sets on one plate being asewing-needle, a yarn-carrier for the sets of short needles, a secondyarn-carrier for the sets of long needles, a reciprocating carriage overthe said plates, cam-actuating devices for the said sets of needles oneach side of the carriage, and means for-moving the sewing-needle into apreliminary position, to receive the yarn from the yarn-carrier for thelong needles without causing the sewing-needle to cast its old loop,substantially as shown and described.

ISAAC V. LAMB.

Witnesses:

LEWIS WHITMAN, L. O. WATKINS.

